Saturday, May 7

One killed, 4 injured as fence collapses on construction workers in Edo

One Moses Okhakhon, who works in a private construction firm in Edo State, was on Friday killed after a perimeter fence belonging to a petrol station along Murtala Muhammed Way in Benin, the state capital, allegedly collapsed on him, the Punch is reporting.

Okhakhon and four others attached to the construction firm, were constructing a drainage link between Second East Circular road and Third East Circular road, when the incident occurred.

The fence had collapsed on him and four others who escaped death by the whisker, as they were not completely covered by mud when the fence caved in, however, they sustained high degrees of injuries.

Eyewitnesses said it took over 30 minutes to dig out the remains of the victim from the rubble.

An eyewitness who identified himself as Friday Omosheri, said that the workers had noticed a warning sign that the collapse would occur.

Omosheri noted that the workers were afraid of working on the drainage under the fence, but were ordered back to work by one of the site engineers.

He said, “The workers were working on the site when the fence came down. They saw some signs and they said the fence would fall.

“The other engineer said those who did not want to work should go home. Others were rescued and rushed to the hospital but Moses could not be rescued.

“They searched for him for more than 30 minutes. The incident has halted ongoing construction of the Second East Circular road,” Omosheri added.

Describing the death as shocking, the brother of the victim, identified as Francis, said, “I was shocked to receive the news of my brother’s death. I never expected that he would die under a trap.

“I drove here after I heard about it. I will go and see him in the mortuary. How can they send somebody to work under a trap? We are only two surviving siblings and now I am the only person remaining now,” Francis added.

An official of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, in the state who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the deceased had been deposited in a morgue and that investigation has been launched into the incident.